Life As I Don't Know It
by STR0B3L1T3
Summary: Fresh at college, Elena attempts to acclimatize to life away from small town Mystic Falls. New York is supposed to be the Big Apple, so why does she keep running into one Sebastian Smythe? Also, how does a girl get rid of an Original roommate?
1. Introduction

Title: Life As I Don't Know It  
>Summary: Fresh at college, Elena attempts to acclimatize to life away from small town Mystic Falls. New York is supposed to be the Big Apple, so why does she keep running into Sebastian?<br>Chapter Title: Introduction  
>Pairing: <strong>Elena Gilbert &amp; Sebastian Smythe<strong> (Elenastian/Seblena)**  
><strong>Word Count: 792

And so despite everything, Elena's worst fears never come to fruition. The problems that keep her up at night never come and everything slides into normalcy. Somehow, she gets into NYU's prestigious writing program and no one objects to her leaving for the big city. She made her case clear when she applied that she wanted to try being independent.

Not that they _should _object.

Ric is proud because he is a teacher and her only real family left in Mystic Falls. Elena charges him with looking after the house and keeping track of everything.

Klaus knows where to find her and she doesn't doubt that he can track her down, but she lets him know over a drink at the grill anyways. He says Kol is in New York and she understands the underlying hint. _Someone will always be watching_.

Caroline and Bonnie are happy for her. Forever 17, Caroline opts to not go to college and spend some time travelling with Abby as the two become accustomed to forever. Stefan's made plans to go with them and Elena agrees with it. She won't say it aloud, but she's rooting for Stefan and Caroline.

When summer is at its end, there are only three people left to see her off. Abby, Caroline and Stefan left the week before for Europe and Bonnie left the previous day for Denver to see Jeremy and then USC.

Klaus shows up in her windowsill and nearly gives her a heart attack. "I understand you've made plans for living on campus, but here are the keys to my place, love."

Damon wishes her well and lets her know that he's going to check in on her _a lot_ in the future whether she likes it or not. However he trusts her by herself because if she can take on a vampire, no human boy is going to take advantage of her. He waited 150 years for Katherine, he points out, 4 years for her to finish school is nothing.

Ric drives her and they have an awkward family bonding moment. She promises to write, call, and to do well at school and he promises to look after the house.

When her plane touches down at JFK Elena's bags are picked up by Elijah. She's not sure how he knows but with modern technology and knowing Klaus it's not difficult to figure it out. He's mannerly and she feels comfortable as he drives her to Klaus' townhouse.

_Always and forever_ protecting her, Elijah insists he could not let her come to the big city without offering his assistance in some way. It turns out he prepared the house for her arrival, going so far as to vampire-proof it.

Elena isn't sure what she expected seeing their house in Mystic Falls, but the damned townhouse he owns is right across from Central Park.

"It'll be good for your fitness," Elijah remarks.

Elijah shows her around and points out that she's living in the guest room, which is now _Elena's_ room. Klaus has his own room on the top floor in the master bedroom. The kitchen is brand new and never been used because none of them cook and there are 3 bathrooms excluding Klaus' ensuite.

There's also a weapons closet filled with vervain grenades, stakes, and some other odds and ends.

Elijah wishes her well and she's not sure where he disappears to when she wakes up the next morning alone in this huge house. Taking his words to heart, she does take up running through the park. The sheer number of people and the hustle and bustle is a 180 from her previous life, but the running focuses and calms her.

A tall, blond boy challenges her for a little while and Elena feels the thrill of a challenge as she over takes him. Running has never been this fun before. In Mystic Falls it was serious business either proving Damon she could handle herself or running away from the baddies.

She cools down and has a drink of water at the end of her run across the street from Klaus' house. Two minutes pass before he finally catches up.

"I've never had someone beat me yet," he grins at her between breaths.

Elena smiles at him, "you challenged the wrong girl this time."

"I don't make mistakes," he retorts. "My name is Sebastian."

"Elena," she extends her hand to him.

She goes back to the house with a spring in her step and after a shower she heads immediately for her diary. So far everything was going well. No one was dying and nothing supernatural had happened. Tomorrow was her first day at NYU with her orientation taking up her day – perhaps life _was_ looking up?

* * *

><p>R&amp;R please! Is this crack!pairing even a good idea?<p> 


	2. Complicated

**Life As I Don't Know It**

Chapter Title: Complicated  
>Pairing: <strong>SeblenaElenastian  
><strong>Word Count: 943

Day Two of her stay in New York started out somewhat normal. A Skype call to Damon while she was eating breakfast to make sure Mystic Falls didn't collapse in the split second she wasn't looking.

He rolled his eyes at her news of Elijah. "That bastard again? I thought he was still busy having conflicted morals."

Elena shrugs and offers hesitantly, "I guess he took a day off to help me?"

Damon laughs and says New York has been good for her humour. He also wishes her good luck on her first day and she promises to call later to tell him about it. The two sign off and she grabs her bag and heads out.

Elena has one piece of mail and the daily newspaper on her doorstep. She leaves both on the counter and closes the door behind her. No time for a morning run today, Elena wonders if she will ever see Sebastian again.

The orientation goes well and she thinks she won't get lost heading to her classes. She meets a bunch of other English and creative writing majors. Elena still isn't sure about her major, but Ric suggests a minor in history. She feels a pang of homesickness. Living in Klaus' house isn't exactly a fresh start and she starts to regret not insisting that she live on campus for a _normal_ life.

Unlocking the door to the house, she immediately senses something off. Weeks of going home to Ric being dead or her house splattered with blood will do that to a person. The newspaper isn't on the kitchen counter where she left it, but an empty glass of bourbon is in its place.

Elena groans and thinks Damon is here, but turns into the living room to find _another_ original vampire.

"Seriously?" she says out loud to him, leaning against the door frame.

"C'mon, it won't be so bad," he gets up and wraps an arm around her shoulders leading her to the kitchen.

"No, we are _not_ going to be roommates. I go to school and you're just going to hang around and bother me," Elena insists.

"C'mon, I enrolled at NYU too. Kol Mikaelsson, history major," he grins brilliantly at her. She glares at him. He would be a history major, probably specializing in something really ancient. It's nice to know he'll probably struggle with the last millennium though.

Elena gets onto a stool at the counter as he deposits her along the kitchen island, why can't anything be uncomplicated around her? "Kol! How did you even _get in_ to NYU? You've missed like 900 years…"

"I compelled a couple people," he shrugs, "and I don't know if you noticed but Klaus has a fairly large bank account."

She rolls her eyes and says, "we'll think of some ground rules when I get back from my run." Elena shakes her head in disbelief; clearly they still felt the need to babysit her. Changing into her running gear and grabbing her iPod, she's suddenly really glad that Elijah helped her vampire proof her room. The doorknob was coated in the stuff and there was some sort of witch magic that allocated that part of the room to her. No vampires unless invited.

She cuts through the park, annoyance making her run a little bit harder and a little bit faster. Elena has a lot of things to say to Klaus over Skype when she gets home. She remembers Caroline trying to teach Klaus how to use Skype so they could keep up. Elena bits her lip trying not to laugh, the big bad Original Hybrid stumped by a computer. That's rich. She's so lost in her thoughts that she barely notices the blond boy jog up beside her.

Elena smiles at him in acknowledgement and they don't speak until they're at the end.

"I don't usually run so late, but I had orientation today," he tells her.

"Oh yeah… me too. NYU?" she asks curiously.

"Yeah… Tisch School of the Arts," he adds proudly.

"Oh, I'm an English major," Elena adds shyly. The two walk in silence to her crosswalk. Sebastian waits for her to cross.

Just as she's starting to cross he grabs her arm and says, "so, tomorrow morning?" She notices how tall he is in comparison, somewhere between the Salvatore brothers. He lets go after a moment and she wonders if he always gave such intense looks.

"Yeah," Elena tucks a piece of hair behind her ears, "I have class around 10ish."

"Alright, see you at 7," he waves and she walks across the street to Klaus' townhouse. Elena likes the normalcy, but it disappears as soon as she gets back to the house. Kol's in the living room sporting some serious burns and she rolls her eyes.

"You think I'd live in a house without some sort of supernatural protection? You're an Original; take care of _yourself_. I'm going to call Klaus."

The Skype call with Klaus ends up being a lot more complicated than she thought. Kol's not supposed to be at the house and Klaus is half threatening to come up to New York the next day to _fix this_. On a whim, she says that it's fine as long as Kol doesn't snack on her or bring home a bunch of compelled women. Elena could use a roommate.

Klaus says he'll think about it. Elena checks her schedule for tomorrow and takes a picture on her Blackberry for later, just in case. Why did the Originals have to make things so complicated? Worse, how was she going to explain to Damon that she was living with Kol?

* * *

><p>R&amp;R Please!<p> 


	3. Rivalry

**Life As I Don't Know It**

Rivalry

Elena yawned as she got out of the shower. Sebastian hadn't been at the park that morning, but the previous day he had mentioned that he had a morning class. She got dressed and brushed her hair. Her bag was already semi packed as she shoved her books and laptop into her bag.

"Kol!" she called out into the hallway as she rushed down the stairs. The Original vampire enjoyed taking his sweet time coming down in the morning, although Elena wasn't even sure he needed the sleep. Maybe she should have let Klaus cart him away a couple days ago, but he had his moments where she enjoyed his presence.

He swaggered down the steps and hooked an arm over her shoulder. Kol dragged Elena around as he grabbed a blood bag and they set off for their second day of university. He had somehow scored a spot in her History of Drama and Theatre I class. Elena hadn't asked and to be honest she really didn't want to know. All Kol had insisted was that, "she was _hot_ and no compulsion was required."

"Aren't you ever afraid someone is going to see you with that and wonder if it's not just a Capri Sun?" Elena questioned him as he held the door open for her.

"Aww, are you worried about me, little Doppelganger?" Kol waggled his eyebrows at her.

"No," she huffed walking through the door to the building.

"We have class to the left," Kol pointed, "are you sure? Because c'mon what would you do without me?"

"I would be living _alone_, alright. Just like how I planned," Elena grumbled. "And I know where the lecture hall is, ok?"

"So sweet, little one, caring about what happens if anyone knew my secret," Kol dropped his voice down to a whisper as they entered the lecture hall. Most of the students sat either alone or with a couple friends. A girl who was in her orientation group a few days ago waved at her from the middle section. Elena waved back before turning to Kol.

"No," she said quietly after seeing the glint in his eye.

"What?" Kol pretended to be oblivious.

"Don't give me that," Elena rolled her eyes, "that's the look you give me every time you suggest feeding on me." The pair sat two rows behind the little group and Elena took out her laptop in preparation for the lecture.

"Oh, little Doppelganger don't be so jealous, you'll always be my favourite blood source," he crooned into her ear.

Elena cast him a disgusted glance and shifted away from him, "I'm so flattered."

"You should be," Kol sassed back, a smug look in his eyes.

Elena's fist curled into a ball and she _really_ wished now that she was wearing one of those stake injectors that Ric gave her. It was a lost cause just hitting the Original with her bare fist. All the reaction that would elicit would be another snarky remark and his vampire pride.

"Elena?" a voice brought her out of her homicidal fantasies of Kol.

Her head tilted up to see Sebastian. All thoughts of her Original friend slipped out of her mind. He might have looked hot in body hugging Nike athletic wear, but in a short sleeved, low v-necked t-shirt he looked absolutely yummy.

"Hey! It's good to see you!" Elena grinned at him and gestured for him to sit down. Kol pinched her arm and she just swatted his hand away.

"It's good to see a familiar face this morning," Sebastian sat down and caught Kol's hard stare. Sebastian simply smiled back at him and offered his hand, "Sebastian Smythe, pleased to meet you."

Elena hoped to God Kol won't break his hand like he did Matt's a while ago.

"Kol Mikaelsson," he responded in his most charming voice.

"So, Elena, you never told me you were in any theatre related classes," Sebastian said.

"Well you also didn't say you were in any English classes," she teased him back.

"Touché," Sebastian conceded, "did you go running this morning?"

Elena found herself involuntary smiling at everything he said. The start of the lecture meant they couldn't speak anymore, but that was fine. She really enjoyed being around him and if the way he responded was any indication she definitely wasn't alone in their new friendship. A fresh start, right?

Sebastian wasn't stupid. The other man who sat next to Elena was definitely feeling territorial, but like that was going to stop him. This young woman had no idea of his past and he had no set future. She was a fresh start away from the bullying in Ohio and the problems in Paris. His jogging buddy seemed receptive to his friendship, even if her counterpart was practically spitting mad.

Once class ended the trio headed out the doors with the rest of the class. "Hey, I gotta head to my next class, I'll see you at the park tomorrow, Elena?" Sebastian turned towards the duo.

"Sure, same time?" Elena nodded trying not to sound too eager. Caroline was going to love hearing about this.

"Yeah, sounds good," Sebastian agreed and he went to shake Kol's hand, "nice to meet you, Kol." The two were locked in a brief struggle, with Sebastian no match for Kol's iron grip, but nonetheless the challenge had been made.

Just as Sebastian reached the bottom step, Elena called out his name. She pulled a pen out of her pocket and grabbed his hand, scrawling her number across his palm. "Call me, in case you're late or something."

Sebastian thought she was endearingly cute as she tried not to be too awkward. "Yeah, I'll text you later. See you!"

Elena watched him go and Kol grabbed her by the crook of her elbow with a glare. He hissed into her ear, "my brother is going to hear about this."

* * *

><p>Please, please, please R&amp;R !<p> 


	4. Opportunities

**Life As I Don't Know It**

Opportunities

Over dessert that evening Elena finds out that Kol's brother did _indeed_ hear about it and so did Caroline. Apparently gossip got around fast in their circle. Elena dutifully fields Caroline's squeals and 20 questions like a pro. "_His name is Sebastian Smythe, he's in performing arts at NYU, we have one class together and I met him jogging in Central Park. He's got brown, blond hair depending on the light, he's around Stefan's height and_ _he's buff Caroline. Think swimming and lacrosse buff." _

"OH MY GOD, I _just_ Facebook-stalked him. You GO girl!" Caroline grins at her over Skype.

"And I gave him my phone number yesterday," Elena adds.

The resounding squeal makes Kol appear grumpily behind her, a blood bag in his mouth. "Shut it, woman, some of us are trying to get some rest over here."

"Don't be stupid, Kol. You were locked in a coffin for 900 years, I doubt you even sleep," Caroline retorts. Elena bites back a laugh.

"Yeah, you would know about Original sleep cycles wouldn't you," Kol leers back at her.

Caroline blushes violently and glares at him. Elena wonders how much Kol knows, because Caroline is unusually mum on what she feels for the Original hybrid. However, she is still very much rooting for Caroline and Stefan because _just think of the cute blond babies_.

"Oh yeah, that's _real_ scary over a computer," Kol rolls his eyes and Elena squeezes his blood bag, effectively silencing him.

Stefan waves at her from behind Caroline, "Elena, have you told my brother yet?"

There's an awkward pause as neither Caroline or Elena knows what exactly he means. There's a lot Elena's neglected to tell Damon, lest he come storming over and demanding to bring her home again. Caroline speaks first, "she doesn't have to tell him every bit of her life. I'm sure he doesn't do the same in kind to her." That effectively covers the topic.

The moment she and Caroline finish their chat, Klaus calls her cell phone. She tosses the phone to Kol who tosses it back. "Sorry, little Doppelganger, he's your problem."

Surprisingly Klaus doesn't care about her interactions with the human. He even goes so far as to encourage it, mentioning cute little Petrova babies to continue the bloodline. He does rant about Elijah disappearing – again – and makes a vague comment about the state of his traitorous brother Finn and Original Witch-Bitch Esther. Elena asks if he's still living with Rebekah.

"Rebekah is mostly with Damon these days," Klaus doesn't spare her feelings and she's not sure if he even knows how to do that.

"That's good for them," Elena responds because it's not her business to care anymore.

"Neither of them know you're with Kol," Klaus confirms for her, "Rebekah thinks he's missing still." Elena is grateful to him for his out of character discretion, but everything played out the way he wanted it to, so she's not too surprised.

"Thanks."

"Keep in touch," Klaus hangs up and she grins brightly at Kol who's lingering in the kitchen.

Kol raises an eyebrow and smirks, "what did brother dearest have to say?"

"Nothing actually, he mentioned the Doppelganger bloodline and how I'll eventually have to provide him with a continuing bloodline – that spiel again – and that no one has told Damon and Rebekah, who are shacking up again by the way, that we're living together. Oh, and he still has no idea where Esther and Finn are hiding," she dazzles him with a megawatt smile.

He slinks away, defeated for the moment that he can't lock her in a cage away from human boys who are going to do bad 21st century things to her. He expected Klaus to berate her for not being careful and to tease her about letting go of the Salvatores so easily. Kol likes it even less when she yells, "grandpa" from the kitchen.

Elena grins, satisfied that for once she wasn't tongue-tied by the overtly sexual Original vampire. She shrugged it off and chalked it up to his similarities to Damon. A buzz from her phone feels foreign as she doesn't have many friends in New York yet.

Sebastian: _Hey, are you free tomorrow?_

She pauses to think about a suitable reply. Elena likes him and the whole idea of just having fun because this is what she was like before vampires and witches and werewolves and being the Doppelganger. It's nice when the biggest problem of her day is whether or not a boy is interested in her, not coming home to her guardian figure dying on the stairwell. Wrapping a piece of hair around her finger, she types back a reply.

Elena: _I'm off class at around 3. Why, what's up?_

The giddy, nervous feeling and the smile threatening to split her face in half are all it takes. Elena's ready for a fresh start.

Sebastian: _Me too! Feel like getting a snack after class?_

Elena: _Yeah, are you still up for that run tomorrow? I'm going to beat you again :P_

Sebastian smiled from his bed, damn. He was genuinely excited to see this girl. He tapped out a reply on his iPhone.

Sebastian: _Haha, you're on, Elena! _

Her reply promptly has him drop his phone onto his face in shock.

Elena: _Catch me if you can ;)_

Oh yes, the game was on.

* * *

><p>Merp, read and review guys :)<p>

Sometimes I write this and I'm like I don't even know what I'm doing... This is so crack pairing


	5. Pretense

**Life As I Don't Know It**

Pretense

Oddly enough Kol was giving her advice on how to dress for her date, although she was not very reassured by his choices.

"Kol, you're killing me," Elena whined gesturing to her outfit, "I'm covered from _head_ to _toe_."

"I think it looks good," he shrugged.

Elena shot him a glare before going back into her bathroom to change. She wore a pair of skinny jeans, cute heeled boots, and a cobalt blue sheer button up. She turned around for Kol who let out a low whistle. He still wasn't allowed in to her room, but the vampire still managed to toss a black leather jacket at her.

"It's new," he informed her, "I saw it at the Barney's sale."

"You spoil me," she grinned throwing it on, marveling at the fit and the texture.

Kol waggled his finger at her, "no dear, _Klaus_ is spoiling both of us. Now let's go to school so I can drop you off to your class and see you off on your _first_ date with this lad."

"Well thank you, Mr. Mikaelsson," she took his arm and the two took to the street to head to school.

Elena could hardly wait for her date with Sebastian. She was bouncing around in her seat, trying not to impatiently tap her fingers against the side of her keyboard. Her professor liked to lecture over time and today was no exception. This was the only time it had actually bothered her, as she didn't have classes like some others afterwards. Kol's text distracted her for a moment.

Kol: _No staying out all night. You'll be sharing deets with me and blondie tonight._

Elena: _I'll be home for dinner, gramps so you better order in._

As soon as she was done she bolted from her lecture hall and over to their meeting spot. Sebastian was standing by himself with a brown leather backpack slung over his shoulder. He's dressed fairly casually, a pair of slim jeans with a white shirt and a black cardigan. Even though a fashion-obsessed vampire had approved her outfit, Elena still felt a tad inferior even though admittedly all the vampires she knew were gorgeous. Couldn't a girl have any normal friends to be with?

"Hey!" she smiled up at him, "where are we going?"

Sebastian grinned, "well, I was thinking of trying this amazing little place – they make a _six_ ounce cookie! I guess we can drop off our school stuff and walk there from my house?"

"It's perfect," Elena smiled as they walked off to find a cab. His arm was draped over her shoulder and Elena liked the feeling of it. It was casual and yet he was very clearly trying to, in some way, Caveman-claim her.

It was nice to obsess purely over what to do when a boy showed definite interest in her after all the supernatural crap.

It turned out Sebastian lived in the Upper West Side amongst Lincoln Centre and the Metropolitan Opera. Elena was only somewhat surprised, but she knew that _he_ knew she lived over on Fifth Avenue in one of the apartments near 72nd or so. It wasn't her house though – she hoped he wouldn't think she was a spoiled princess. He was apparently was familiar with that level of wealth.

"I'm not that familiar with New York anymore, I used to only come up for vacations," Sebastian explained as he pointed out various buildings.

"Mm, I only visited once when I was little," Elena said wistfully, "with my parents."

"Then I'll have to show you around Manhattan and maybe the boroughs," he said, eager to spend more time with her.

Elena smiled shyly at him and nodded, "I would love that. So far Kol's only shown me around Neiman's, Saks, Barney's and Bendel's."

"Trust me, Elena, there is _tons _to see and do in New York, not just Manhattan," Sebastian leaned in to her to point out the window and all Elena could properly take notice of was his proximity to her. She could turn her head and her lips would graze his cheek. She could _feel_ his heat through her cheeks and _smell_ his cologne or aftershave or whatever it was.

Sebastian smirked, he could smell her shampoo off the crown of her head and he could feel her warmth through his jacket. He tried hard to keep his grinning in check, but the feeling of being near this woman was irresistible.

Once they reached their destination, Sebastian couldn't help but give her a tour. His beautiful brownstone apartment was one of few remaining pre-war buildings and was enormous for just him. However his family was generally away on business in France with his mother in the Hamptons. Pausing to show her his bedroom on the way out he made no effort to disguise that he desired her. Sadly, naughtiness had to wait because a huge shared cookie was calling their name.

As he paid for their meal, he sent Elena off with her Valhrona hot chocolate and his coffee to find a table while he managed three plates of delicious afternoon snacks. Even if they couldn't eat them all, it hardly hurt that she could take something home to remember him by, not to mention annoying her roommate, Kol.

Sebastian sat down across from her and smiled, "nice seat by the window, I like it."

"I see you brought more pastries than I could eat," Elena smiled as she took a piece of the cookie.

"Well, you were going to tell me more about your roommate and your flat?" he said before taking a sip of his coffee. He normally took his black with a shot of milk, but it was hard to resist whatever Elena had insisted adding to his coffee. There was a touch of honey and maybe some spice…like cinnamon?

Elena fidgeted, "well, the apartment belongs to Klaus, who lives in my hometown. He's kind of taken up the role of guardian in his own way… Kol is his younger brother. He kind of forced the place on me, I applied for residence, and Kol kind of just came with it."

"Really now?" Sebastian grinned, happy to hear that Elena hadn't chosen to live with the guy, "so there are no boyfriends to contend with?"

Elena flushed and pouted a bit.

"EXCUSE ME, but _Sebastian_?" exclaimed a possibly male voice.

Elena's eyes flicked up and she frowned, "Seb, who are they?"

"Elena, this is Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel."

* * *

><p>Review!<p> 


	6. Vengeance

Life As I Don't Know It  
><strong>Vengeance<strong>

"Hi, I'm Elena," she stuck out her hand to both of them and watched as the overly feminine man sort of just stared at it in disgust. The other girl politely smiled.

"Oh, honey, you stay away from Sebastian, he is _such_ a man stealer," Kurt preached with an adlib of 'mhmm' from Rachel.

"I think I can judge my own company pretty well," she responded politely, reaching for her hot chocolate cup and brushing her fingers against his. She hoped he got the silent reassurance that she wasn't judging or anything. I mean really, the Doppelganger embroiled in centuries of Hybrid issues be judgemental? Ok a tad.

He made a face at her before turning his attention to Sebastian, "so I guess you finally took the hint that Blaine didn't want you."

"I'm sorry, I have company, but it's always nice to see familiar faces in New York," Sebastian greeted with a thin smile.

"Don't give me that, it won't work," Kurt huffed, "just for the record, Blaine is off the market still."

Sebastian sighed and stirred his coffee, "what are you doing so far from your academy by the Flatiron?"

"Excuse me if I'm seeing wrong, but now you're with a girl? Just for clarification, honey, he's _gay_," Kurt hissed, with Rachel looking mildly uncomfortable behind him. They were starting to make a scene.

"Um, I'm not sure what you qualify as a good date, but I think Sebastian and I will be going. You're not related to the Senator, are you?" Elena asked, gathering her purse and her coffee. Not waiting for a response she reached over and tugged Sebastian out of the coffee place at a pretty face pace.

It went like that for a block before Sebastian stopped her, the momentary thrill of her accepting him faded as he wondered if she was upset with _him_. "Whoa, whoa, Elena stop it's fine."

She turned to face him and he squeezed her hand, "Calm down, it's ok. You're not upset with me are you?"

"NO, ok I'm not upset with you," Elena shook her head and Sebastian fought to not reach out to play with the dark strands. "It's just that he was trying so hard to upset _you_."

"It's fine," he reached out and stroked the side of her hair, "I'm not upset. I promise. I have a thicker skin than that. Let's just go back to my place and finish our meal and talk, ok?"

She looked at him, trying to figure out if he was really ok before relenting, "alright, if you say so. You can tell me all about what that was about anyways. Also, gay? Really?" Elena smiled teasingly at him, "I guess I could see that."

Sebastian mock glared at her, "I prefer not to use conventional labels, rather think of me as someone who admires all forms of beauty."

"I feel _so_ special," she said dryly.

"Well, my dear, you happen to be a very, _very_ special woman," he grinned and the two walked back to his apartment. He curled his fingers instinctively between the two of them as they brushed pinky fingers. The urge to feel her fingers in his was quite strong.

Elena finally collapsed into his big leather armchair in the living room, where they put down all their half eaten goodies and half drunken beverages.

"That kind of ranks low on the first date scale," Elena smirked as he rolled his eyes.

"Woman, that was _exciting_," he purred at her.

"Now, explain this whole fiasco, please," she said, moving to sit next to him on the couch and continue snacking on their cookies and stuff.

He eyed her for a moment before deciding for the truth, and the long version of it. She was tucked under his arm and leaned into his chest as he spoke just over the crown of her head.

"I was an ass in high school," Sebastian admitted, "Kurt, who is the Senator's gay son by the way, was dating Blaine Anderson, whom I was very attracted too. I pretty much did all I could to split them up and we eventually called a truce after the Karofsky incident."

His voice had gone soft and Elena squeezed his hand in support. She had done some stuff that was pretty crappy last year too, so she could relate. The past was in the past though, one had to embrace it (if it wasn't trying to _kill_ you) and live with it.

"Karofsky?" she questioned curiously.

Sebastian looked into her big brown doe eyes and knew he couldn't refuse. No matter how much of an ass he could be to the others, something about her was endearingly vulnerable and awkward behind her warm smile.

"Yeah, Karofsky was having issues coming out and, uh, we weren't exactly the kindest to him. He was an absolute bull to Kurt I hear, but at the same time I didn't help things either, but I guess I was just being myself. One day he tried to hang himself…"

"He's okay, now?"

"Yeah, he's doing better. I'll never forget what I said to him right before that though," he sighed and buried his nose into her hair, seeking out the comforting smell of her shampoo.

"Seb, it wasn't all your fault," she said instinctively, "you might be arrogant and demeaning but even you aren't that cruel."

"And how would you know, Elena," he asked seriously, his posture had gone rigid and tense.

Elena turned around to look him in the eye and Sebastian disliked the lack of contact. "You feel bad, you regret what you said to him," she said seriously and he felt something change. She understood him. While most others would have stumbled Elena had known exactly what to say.

* * *

><p>Continue to read :) Reviews would be great too!<p> 


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